


Filled your cup until it overflowed

by yourbuttervoicedbeau (kiwiana)



Series: Songs from the Jukebox [Prompt Fills] [5]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Episode: s06e14 Happy Ending, Introspection, Jukebox Prompt, M/M, POV Rachel, Prompt Fill, Thoughts about exes, Weddings, You can absolutely be friends with exes I will die on this hill thanks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:49:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24692545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwiana/pseuds/yourbuttervoicedbeau
Summary: When the invitation arrives in the mail, Rachel’s initial instinct is to say no.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer & Rachel, Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Series: Songs from the Jukebox [Prompt Fills] [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775569
Comments: 44
Kudos: 302





	Filled your cup until it overflowed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DelilahMcMuffin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DelilahMcMuffin/gifts), [reginahalliwell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reginahalliwell/gifts).



> I woke up this morning to find a couple of different prompts in the Jukebox. Delilah McMuffin asked for "Rachel sees Patrick and David together and has feelings" and reginahalliwell asked for "Rachel goes to the wedding", so obviously those needed to be combined! It got way, way longer than I was intending, and I feel kinda bad about taking a break from my other story to write this (but not bad enough to not do it, obviously). This might be the first thing I've ever written that I've been able to rate G... I wouldn't get used to it. 😂
> 
> As always with Jukebox fills it’s unedited, barely reread, and written on my phone, so apologies for what I’m sure is a multitude of errors.
> 
> Title is from Halsey.

When the invitation arrives in the mail, Rachel’s initial instinct is to say no.

It’s not that she isn’t happy for Patrick; she is. It took them a while, but they’ve found their way back to a tentative but genuine friendship. She was the first person to comment when he finally changed his relationship status on Facebook and got the extended coming out thing over with in one fell swoop (over a year after she went to Schitt’s Creek, which…  _ honestly, _ Patrick). He texted her when his cousin got pregnant; she’d been trying when Rachel and Patrick were still together, and he knew Rachel would want to know. She even received a Rose Apothecary candle for her birthday, with a card signed by both Patrick and David.

And it’s not that she isn’t happy in general, either. She has a fantastic job, a nice apartment, and a great circle of friends — and she has Andrew, now. It’s still new, but it feels good. Certainly, it’s easier than being with Patrick was, at least once they left school and tried to navigate life as adults. 

It’s just that… somewhere, deep down, there’s still a Patrick-sized bruise that hurts if it’s pressed too hard. She was in love with him for the better part of fifteen years, after all, and will probably always love him in some way. Seeing him marry someone else… that seems like it would be taking a stiletto to that bruise, over and over all day.

On the other hand, she is deeply, morbidly curious about David Rose. She met him once for about three seconds on a day when none of them were at their best; she learned a little bit about him from his family as they tried to fill the awkward silence after Patrick chased after him, and a little bit more out of Patrick when they talked that evening. She’s seen the odd photo of them on social media; as far as she can tell David doesn’t have Facebook but he appears in most of the photos Patrick is tagged in. Even in pictures, it’s easy to see that they gravitate towards one another.

In the end, curiosity wins out over self-preservation. She agonises for a long time over the plus one field on the response card but ultimately decides to do this one solo; if she does have a strong reaction to being there, she doesn’t want Andrew to think it’s because she’s still carrying a torch for her ex.

* * *

When she arrives at the motel the day before the wedding, she recognises the girl behind the front desk. She is perfectly polite the whole time she completes check-in, and she hands over the key to room two with a smile, but her eyes are wary. She was at that horribly awkward barbecue, Rachel remembers suddenly; so not just an employee but a family friend, probably. 

“Wait,” she says as Rachel turns to leave the office. “I almost forgot — I’m meant to invite you to dinner tonight.”

Rachel blinks. “Dinner?”

“Yeah, they asked me to invite you. It’s not, like, a rehearsal dinner or anything — just the families getting dinner together at the café — but they were pretty insistent that you should come along.”

“Oh,” Rachel says, nonplussed. She’s not sure  _ why _ she’s being invited to a family dinner, but she’s not going to say no to a chance to see Patrick — and David — before the actual wedding. “Sure. When and where?”

“7 o’clock at the café?” she makes it sound like a question, and Rachel nods.

“I’ll be there,” she confirms, just getting a quick nod in return.

When she walks into her room, dragging her suitcase behind her, she stops short in the doorway. There, perched on the end of the twin bed, is a massive gift basket stuffed to the brim with Rose Apothecary products; there’s another candle, shampoo and conditioner, some body milk, and a bunch of other products she’ll look through properly later. It’s an incredibly generous gesture, and she wonders idly if Patrick or David made it.

She glances down at her watch; she’s got plenty of time to have a shower and get changed before dinner, and after the long drive down she needs it. She takes the basket into the bathroom, intending to try the products out, but she realises once she’s in there that she doesn’t need to; everything in the shower is Rose Apothecary branded, just travel-sized. 

She strips down quickly and steps under the spray, washing the grime of the road trip off.

* * *

When she walks into the café that night, it’s to the sound of raucous laughter. The Roses and Brewers are spread out over several tables that have been haphazardly shoved together in the middle of the floor and Clint seems to be telling a story, gesturing across the table towards Patrick, whose ears are pink. 

“…and he slept with that thing until he was thirteen,” Clint is saying. David is looking at Patrick with an expression somewhere between fond and teasing, and it makes a smile spread across her face.

“It was at least sixteen, actually,” she says, and everyone’s heads snap around. Belatedly she worries that David might get upset at being reminded of her past with his fiancé, but he’s the first one to get up out of his chair and wrap his arms around her. From the looks on the faces at the table she gets the impression David isn’t generally a hugger and she gives him a good squeeze back, as much out of appreciation for the welcoming gesture as for the hug itself.

Patrick’s right behind him when he lets go. “I’m glad you came, Rach,” he says as he hugs her warmly, and she pulls back to grin at him.

“You think I was going to miss an evening of people telling embarrassing stories about you?” she laughs, and a grin spreads across David’s face.

“Rachel, I think you should come and sit by me,” he says, dragging a chair over so she can sit between David and Alexis before Patrick can object. “Sixteen, really?”

She laughs. “Honestly? I think it might have been longer, and he just got better at hiding it from me.”

From David’s other side she hears Patrick sigh dramatically. “This is really fun for me, thanks, guys.”

David whips around to face him and while Rachel can no longer see his face she can see his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. “Oh, really? Is there something about being on this side of an unbalanced social dynamic that’s uncomfortable for you?” 

Patrick snorts, and she realises suddenly that this is some sort of private joke — one she’s not privy to. It’s an odd feeling; for a long time they were all tangled up in each others’ lives and even the jokes at their expense, the ones about their breaking up and making up, were still ones they  _ shared. _ Being on the outside of that is going to take a little bit of readjustment.

David leans in to kiss him, and she can’t help watching Patrick’s face as he does. His eyes stay locked on David’s lips until the last second and even though it’s a brief, chaste kiss he still looks a little dazed when David pulls away. She never put that look on his face, let alone after — what, two years, three? — and it makes her stomach do a little flip. A little bit of it is self-pity, but it’s mostly sorrow for Patrick and all the time he wasted, not knowing he could feel like that.

David turns back to face her, and she schools her face. “Rachel,” he says, grinning, “please tell me all about baby jock Patrick.”

She laughs. “Oh, where do I  _ start,” _ she says. Behind David, Patrick drops his head onto the table with a loud groan.

* * *

Rachel is woken up the next morning by a loud clap of thunder.

Her first thought is  _ ugh, my shoes are open-toe; _ it takes a minute for her to remember that it’s meant to be a  _ garden _ wedding, right here at the motel. She didn’t see anything about an indoor backup plan but surely there is one, right?

She stays buried under the duvet for a while, scrolling aimlessly through her phone, but eventually thirst drives her out. She throws on some trackpants and a jumper — the wedding isn’t until late afternoon, no point showering and getting dressed yet — and braves the weather in search of the vending machine. She reaches it just in time to hear a door click open and then David is there, glowering at the sky, a duffel bag in hand. He’s wearing a sweater that says ‘LOVE’ in the shape of a heart, and it makes her smile. It’s pretty perfect pre-wedding attire.

“You stayed here last night?” she asks, surprised, and David starts. Obviously he hadn’t noticed she was there, but he musters up a smile for her with what looks like some effort.

“My sister insisted,” he grimaces. Rachel remembers what a steamroller Alexis was when she came here last time, and smiles in sympathy.

“What, she wanted to make sure you were still pure on your wedding day?” she laughs before immediately snapping her mouth shut in horror. Oh God, she and David  _ definitely _ don’t know each other well enough for her to make that joke. To her surprise though, David snorts.

“Well, sure. We Roses have a reputation to maintain, you know,” he says haughtily, making her giggle. He sighs before continuing, looking out over the parking lot where the potholes are already filled with water. “Though as far as superstitions go, it was apparently not enough to stave off the bad luck.”

They’re standing several feet apart, but for some reason Rachel doesn’t feel the need to bridge the gap. “You’re getting married today, David,” she says softly. “What else matters, other than that?”

He turns wide eyes on her, nodding slowly. “You’re right,” he says as a car pulls up and honks insistently. She sees Stevie in the driver’s seat and gives her a little wave. David approaches the car but pauses with one hand on the handle. 

“We’re really glad you came, Rachel,” he says sincerely. From anyone else she’d worry that the ‘we’ was a pointed barb, but she honestly thinks David doesn’t even realise he does it. It just comes naturally, to include Patrick in everything.

She smiles. “I’m glad I came, too,” she tells him, and it's not a lie. “See you at the wedding.”

“Well, we don’t know where that will be right now,” he groans as he gets in the car.

* * *

It all comes together, because of course it does. She gets the story from Clint when he and Marcy offer her a ride to town hall; how the whole town came together to pull off a last-minute wedding, how Patrick ran around all day making sure things were as perfect as they could possibly be while insisting David do nothing more than get a massage and get ready. 

The whole time they were engaged, Patrick couldn’t make a decision on so much as a date or a venue. In retrospect it’s obvious why, but the contrast is staggering.

Clint and Marcy rush off to see Patrick when they arrive, and Rachel looks around the space. It’s beautiful; if she didn’t know, she’d have no idea it was pulled together with such little notice. She greets a few of Patrick’s cousins, most of whom are good at hiding their surprise at seeing her, and finds a seat about halfway back. 

When the ceremony starts and David appears in the entranceway, arm in arm with his sister who is wearing — okay, no, nope, not her business, but  _ wow _ that’s a choice — Rachel can’t help looking away from David and back at Patrick. Despite the stress of the day he looks completely relaxed, eyes shining as they’re fixed on David as though no one else is in the room. She sends up a quick wish to the universe, whoever might be listening, that he stays this happy for the rest of his life. And when she sees the look on David’s face, she’s pretty sure he will.

After the ceremony, as they’re all heading over to the café for the reception, she takes out her phone and sends Andrew a quick text.  _ Wish you were here, _ she says, and means it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Come and find me on [Tumblr](http://yourbuttervoicedbeau.tumblr.com).


End file.
